The Revival of Rock
by Kairi Uzeniba
Summary: A girl finds the nearly dead body of Rock in the ruins of Ziggurat, and doctors manage to save him. The girl lets Rock live at her house. But with a villan after them both and Rock in a depression, how will they get by? [RockxOC.]
1. Ishi Suki

**A/N: My first Metropolis fic! I saw the movie for the first time in 5 years yesterday. I began looking through fics to see if my idea for this fic was already taken, but it didn't seem to be. So I just started typing and VIOLA! This fic. I need to shut up…onto the story!**

**Chapter 1**

Ishi Suki 

Ishi Suki (as in first name Ishi, because in Japan they do it backwards) is a 14-year-old living in Metropolis at the same time as Kenichi and his uncle came, Tima's creation, destruction of Ziggurat, all that stuff. She was born in Osaka, Japan, moved to New York, and then Metropolis for school. (These are all little details so you can know about Ishi) One day, on the Upper Zone of Metropolis,(when Ishi was 13) a robot's circuit broke, making it go bezerk. It began attacking everyone in sight. It actually took Ishi down to Zone 3, where it planned to do a dance. And then drop her in acid. While the robot was dancing, Rock ran down to Zone 3, following the commotion. He didn't want to shoot, because it was too difficult to aim correctly while the robot was dancing. Instead, he jumped down off the platform and grabbed Ishi, and then shot the robot.

"Excuse me sir," Ishi said, still in shock. "How come you didn't just shoot the robot from up there?" Rock turned to her. She was still in his arms, bridal style.

"I didn't want to hit you." Rock said as he began blushing. She blushed, too. He set her down lightly. "Be careful. I wouldn't want someone as pretty as you to get killed." She nodded. Rock ran off. Ever since that day, Ishi was different.

Ever since then, Ishi had loved Rock. She would purposely try to go where malfunctioning robots were, or where crimes were, or where come scenes were. She even said "hi" to him once or twice. She thought of him at least once everyday.

So you can imagine how devastated she was when she found out Ziggurat had fallen down and Rock had been inside.

When she went to see the ruins of the enormous skyscraper she at first was in only shock. But she then remembered that Rock was probably dead within the ruins. Before she panicked, she ran up to a policeman.

"Excuse me sir, were there any survivors?" she asked quickly.

"Yup. Some detective and his nephew, why?" Ishi's eyes filled with tears. She ran to the ruins. Few pieces could be lifted. She kneeled in the ruins and sobbed. She eventually began walking around the ruins. She ended up reaching an area where there seemed to be pieces of robots. She picked part of one up. One side of it was soaked in blood. She thought maybe there were at least corpses nearby. She dug through the metal.

"I don't think looking in there will help anything. There are multiple layers of this junk, whatever you're looking for is probably-"

"Shut up!" she yelled back at the voice of her classmates, Kuchiku and Kyoufu. (2 girls, twins. Normally her best friends)

"But Ishi, Rock is probably dead, I don't know why you liked him anywa-"

"I said shut up!"

"Ishi. Rock is dead. Go mourn or something and give up-"

"I'll give up if you go to hell!" They figured it was pointless to try and talk to her right now, and began to leave. As Ishi was about to give up, her hand landed on something. It felt like hair on a head. She pulled at it and found Rock's head. She kept pulling. She normally would've been excited but she knew he was probably dead. When she pulled out the rest of his body she gasped. His left leg was missing along with his right arm. The blood loss probably would've killed him. She began sobbing again. But she heard a grunt. Her eyes quickly opened.

"…Rock?" she whispered. His head moved.

"Who is this…?" he said slowly. Ishi's frown quickly formed into a grin.

"Emergency! Get an emergency crew!" she shouted. Emergency robots quickly rolled to the scene. They opened up a cot and put him onto it. They drove away. Ishi followed.

At the hospital…

"I don't know…he _has _lost a lot of blood, I don't know…"Dr. Fujo said, pondering.

"Please sir, anything!" Ishi begged. They were in a hospital room with Rock in the hospital bed.

"Well…there is one possibility-nah, it'll never work." Dr. Fujo said.

"Anything! I don't even care what it is, just do it, and fast!" she begged. Her eyes watered again.

"Fine then. Get me a surgery crew and a nearly useless robot. I mean now!" he yelled. "You might wanna leave the room." She shook her head.

"I'm not leaving him. Not after all that. I'll just sit in the corner or something. Can I get a blanket?"

About 6 hours later…

"Kid? Hello? You awake?" Rock moved his head.

"Where…where am I…?"

"Take your time. You just made it through surgery, kid. You survived a, 10,000 foot building falling, and an extremely risky surgery." Rock slowly opened his eyes. He tried to scratch his head, but instead he felt cold metal. He opened his eyes. His eyes twitched. He had a robotic right arm. He looked at the rest of his body. He had a robot left leg, too. He looked around. He was in a hospital room with a bunch of tired-looking surgeons and a girl in the corner.

"Who's the girl in the corner?"

"Her? I actually don't know her name, but she found your nearly dead body and brought it to us. Well, the robots brought it, but she found it." One surgeon went up to Ishi.

"Ishi?"

"He's dead, isn't he?"

"No, he actually survived! He's conscious, too." Ishi quickly sat up and turned around. Rock looked at her.

"Rock!" she said as she ran into his arms. Rock was a little shocked to get such a welcome right after a surgery from someone he met a few times. But he was alive. And it felt better than death. But then a horrifying thought came to him.

Duke Red was dead.

**A/N: Yes, I know, there is lack of knowledge in so many places in this fic. Rock definitely wouldn't have survived the fall, either way the blood loss would've killed him, a surgery such as the one he went through would've probably taken more like a week, and they never let anyone but the surgeons in a surgery. Rock is also a _little _OOC, (Out of character, for those who don't know) but in the next chapter he won't be. PLEASE review! Anonymous reviews welcomed! If I don't know what people think, I might delete this fic, so reviews are needed! I need to shut up again…goodbye!**


	2. Ishi's Family

**A/N: Welcome back! I desparately wanted to write more, updates won't always come this quick, trust me. Story time with Kairi! (COUGHcheesyCOUGH)**

**Chapter 2**

**Ishi's "Family"**

Rock stared at the wall in horror as he Ishi hugged him. Ishi pulled away.

"Rock? Is something wrong?" she asked, wondering why he was staring at nothing in such in odd way. "Don't tell me it's amnesia." Rock shook himself out of his reverie of horror.

"It's nothing. Do I have somewhere I can go?" Rock replied, hastily changing the subject. Ishi grinned. I can ask Auntie Kea if you can stay. But you'll have to come with me. Can you walk?" Rock pushed his feet off of the hospital bed and tried to stand. Success. He began walking around.

"I'm fine. But I'm going to need new clothes to hide my new robotic limbs." He said grimly, still thinking of Duke Red. Ishi looked concerned, but still listened to what he was saying.

"Arai will probably have something. Come on, let's get going."

At Ishi's house…

Ishi pulled a key from her shoe(for safe keeping) and stuck it in the old, rusty lock. At first she tried to push it open, but yet again she had to kick the 2-foot-think door so it would at least budge. But the door still tried to remain shut.

"Iyou, Ishi's home! Get off your lazy ass and open the door!" came a teenaged female voice from inside.

"_I _should be telling _you _that, you she-bum! You open the door!" came another teenaged male voice.

"Stop swearing you dumb-asses!" came a voice of an old woman.

"Ow!" came the voices who were insulting each other.

"I'll get it." Came a deep male voice.

"No! Let me get it!" came the old woman's voice again. Then there were quick footsteps. Rock looked confused while Ishi simply rolled her eyes. The woman who opened the door was wrinkly and looked very old. She had greasy white and gray hair. She had no pigment in either of her eyes, and she was blind, too.

"Who is it?" she said. "I can't see. Whatever you're selling I don't want it."

"No Auntie Kea, it's Ishi. And I have a guest, so please try to act normal."

"Sorry, no-can-do. Normality ain't my thing." She said back. She made her hand do a beckoning motion. When they came in she whispered to them,

"The enemy is in the house. Attack them with everything you've got and don't hold back. We take back the pickled chocolate tonight!" Ishi put her head in her hands. Rock didn't say anything. This was just too weird. He didn't understand how anyone could get used to this, even remotely. But he was still thinking of Duke Red. Suddenly, the old woman pounced onto 2 teenage people in the living room.

"Eat my shorts, ya banshees!" she screamed. Ishi and Rock heard screams and then running.

"I thought she said she was blind," Rock said, confused.

"It looks like it, but she's really and octal albino. That means she has no pigment in her eyes, but she can see." Rock nodded. "Can everyone come in her for a minute?!" Ishi yelled. The footsteps started slowing down. Auntie Kea got there first.

"What can I do for you 2?" she asked like a normal grandma. Then, 2 teenagers, 1 male 1 female, came into the hallway, both with bruises. Then a grown man who's head almost touched the ceiling. There was a moment of silence. Ishi cleared her throat and said,

"Everyone, this is Rock. You've seen him in newspapers and on TV. He almost died in the crash of Ziggurat, but doctors led him to a full-rr, nearly full recovery. He'll be staying with us for a while." Everyone nodded. "Rock, as you know this is Auntie Kea. She's not really my aunt, but that's what she tells us to call her. These 2 teenagers are Iyou," she pointed to the male "…and Henteko." Then the female. "They're twins, but not related to me. No-one here is. And this," she said, pointing to the adult male. "…is Arai. I don't know his story, I think he's Auntie Kea's nephew or something…I'll tell you more about them if you wish to know. But anyway, Arai?"

"Hai, Ishi- san?" The spoke in Japanese for a moment. Other people spoke a little in Japanese too.

_Great. Now they're speaking Japanese, a language I don't know. Just perfect. _Rock thought. _But…father… _Ishi turned to Rock.

"Sorry…the only thing we all really have in common is that we're all Japanese and speak is fluently…I just asked Arai to let you borrow some clothes, and Auntie Kea said there are flying ponies eating dogs made of mustard…" Ishi said, blushing a little. Arai walked up the stairs.

"Come on Rock…" he said as if he'd asked him to come up. Rock followed, still confused. Ishi walked into the kitchen. She began cooking.

"Hey Ishi, don't you have homework?" Henteko asked. Ishi was smiling.

_Rock is in my house… _Ishi thought in a daydream.

"Ishi?" Henteko asked again.

"Aah…What? Oh! Yeah, but only 1 short worksheet and a little studying. Why?"

"Well, I was just wondering what you are supposed to be doing in a few minutes instead of making out with Rock!" Henteko teased. Ishi stopped cooking. She turned around.

"HENTEKO!! YAKEDO O NARAKU!!" Ishi screamed as she ran after her. (That meant, "HENTEKO!! BURN IN HELL!!" for those who didn't know)

Meanwhile…

"Heh…they're in the same house. Now I can kill them both in 1 swoop. I'm disappointed that Rock wasn't dead anyway, but now I can kill him for myself…and for Ishi…heh heh heh…I'll give her 2 options…I'll see what she says."

**A/N: Ooh, sort of a cliffhanger, huh? As for all that Japanese, I find it on freedict, an online dictionary…heh…oh, I feel guilty. Well, tune in next time! PLEASE review! Anonymous reviews are welcomed! Without reviews I might delete this, so review!**


	3. Rock's Depression

**A/N: I love this fic too much to delete it. Onto the fic.**

**Chapter 3**

**Rock's Depression**

Ishi was too tired to keep chasing Henteko, so she went to check on Rock. She met Arai leaving his room on the way.

"Rock is on the roof…" he said before he walked right past her.

"The roof? Why?" she asked. Arai shrugged. The only way to the roof was through Arai's room, so she went into his room and climbed through the roof. Rock was sitting on the edge. He was now wearing a long-sleeved shirt and gloves, which his all his new robotic features nicely. You could tell he knew of Ishi's presence, but he didn't respond.

"Rock?" He didn't respond. "Rock, are you o.k.?" she asked, concerned.

"Do I look o.k.?" he responded finally, but neutrally.

"Is it the robotic limbs? I could see how that would be shocking."

"It's not the robotic limbs. I'm grateful for these." He said clenching his robot fist. Ishi scooted on the roof so she was sitting next to Rock. She could now see Rock's facial expression. He was frowning in a way when someone usually wouldn't wanna bug him, and would usually want to back off. But Ishi could see there was a softness in his eyes. He simply looked sad.

Some think Ishi liked Rock only for his looks. (He is a bit cute, second on my Hot Guys list) But, she had gotten to know him slightly over the past year she'd known him. He'd always been forced to look tough and utterly fearless whenever in public. But whenever he wasn't wearing sunglasses, she could tell he really was never truly happy. He usually looked stressed or angry or both. And when she'd have short conversations with him, he'd always say something was going on with his personal life, and that would be about it. Once, about half a year ago, he'd said his father was being frustrating, and about a minute later he was idolizing his father again. He'd confused her, and for some reason she liked that. But she liked it better when she knew what was going on.

"Rock…please tell me what's wrong. I don't like seeing you like this. You'll make me sad too." She said calmly in a comforting way. "I know you've been through a lot in the past 2 days, but you're alive! You're a survivor!" She put her arm around him. He gently pushed it off.

"I need to be alone. Maybe I'll be ready later. Thank you for trying to comfort me, though." He replied, still looking away. Ishi looked down.

"Well…the soup will be ready in a few minutes, so…" she said as if she were to continue, but didn't. She climbed back through the door to the roof.

_She's always been a good one, at least as I've known her. _Rock thought. But he kept thinking of Duke Red and his rooster hair. The man he'd worshipped and called his father was gone forever. And there was nothing he could do about it. He kept kicking himself mentally for not trying to save him and sacrifice himself instead. But it was too late. About 15 minutes later a voice came from the door in the roof.

"Rock! I have some soup for you. It's miso soup, you know what's in that, right?" Ishi called. Her head popped up through the roof. Rock was in the same position as earlier.

"No, I don't know what's in it. I'll eat it anyway. I trust you're a good cook." He replied. Ishi crawled over to him. She handed him the soup. He sipped it. Ishi watched him. In her view, he'd always been a figure of a kind of manliness, you know, the kind you see in teenage boys before they enter adulthood. (I hope you know what I mean by that. If you don't, it's fine, I didn't explain it too well.)

"So…are you ready to tell me know?" Ishi asked. Rock let out a breath. He sipped some more soup. Ishi thought about what she'd just asked. And she realized how incredibly nosy it was.

_How come I did that…? He's already incredibly depressed, explaining it might make it worse! _She thought.

"Look- Rock, I shouldn't have asked you that. It was really rude of me. You don't have to tell me anything." She said. Rock sighed. He sipped some more soup.

"No…it's alright. I need to let my emotions out anyway. You know my foster father, Duke Red?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"He's dead. It's all my fault, too." He said. Ishi remembered how he worshipped Duke Red, but how mean he was to Rock. Ishi put her arm around him again.

"Oh geez…I don't know what to say…" she said. "I think you need a hug." He smiled.

"Yeah, I think I do." Ishi wrapped her arms around him. Rock embraced her warmly. She moved her hand over his hair. She felt something warm and wet. A single tear.

"Don't cry Rock. You're far above that." She said. Rock sniffed.

"Yeah, it was a leak." They separated.

"It's getting late. Arai has already set up a bed for you. Let's go inside." She said. He nodded. He climbed down after Ishi. As Rock walked into Arai's room and Ishi went down the hallway, he called out,

"Hey Ishi!" She turned around. "Nice soup. You're a good cook!" She blushed and kept walking. When Rock got into his room and he was in bed, tears rolled down his cheeks.

_Father…I miss you so much. Crying definitely won't please you, but I…I loved you! As a son, I mean…_he thought. He cried himself to sleep.

Meanwhile…

A man in a black robe stepped into a dark room.

"Well? What's your status?" came a deep voice from somewhere else in the room.

"They seem to be bonding. That'll make it more painful for them. Ishi is trying to comfort him, but I don't know if it's helping."

"Heh…Rock acts tough, but he's a coward on the inside. Without his gun he'd be nothing more than a pathetic orphan. I'd rather kill him."

**A/N: There'll be more adventure in the chapter AFTER the next one, trust me. The next one will be a bit more humorous. Hope you liked it! Read next chapter! PLEASE review!**


	4. Marduk HQ and School

**A/N: I re-read part of the last chapter and Rock was incredibly OOC. Sorry! Crying is definitely not Rock's thing. And this chapter has more of a humor element and doesn't really effect the actual plotline very much. Next chapter will be deeper, trust me. R&R!**

**Chapter 4**

**School and Marduk HQ**

Ishi woke up and put on her school uniform. (A red shirt with a white tie and navy blue pants.) She walked into the kitchen. Everyone else was up and eating, including Rock, who had 10 bowls stacked in front of him and going for another. The twins Iyou and Henteko were wearing a different uniform and had about 5 bowls stacked in front of each of them and were fighting over a different bowl. Arai looked like he was fighting with Rock on who could eat the most. But Auntie Kea, amazingly, had 20 bowls stacked in front of her and was going for another.

"G'morning, Ishi." Auntie Kea said.

"Morning, Auntie. You must not be very hungry today. What happened to the usual 30 bowls?" Ishi questioned.

"I had some soup last night. Your friend seems to have an apetite equal to Arai's. We'll see. But you better be off to school now. Rock is going to check in with Marduk headquarters OR ELSE!!" Auntie Kea threatened. Ishi quickly slipped out the door. And she was off to school. On her way she met up with her friends. (They were wearing the same thing except they had green plad mini-skirts. They both have black hair, blue eyes, and the same voice. They are identical twins.)

"Hey Ishi!" called one of them.

"Hi Gina. Hi Tina." Ishi said as she waved. They began walking on either side of her.

"Look…about yesterday…we should've been more respectful of your mourning." Tina said.

"I agree. I'm surprised you're even coming to school today. We'd give all your teachers your excuse." Gina said. Ishi was confused. But then she remembered what happened yesterday.

"Oh! Haha! Rock survived. He's fine now, except for 2 new mechanical limbs." There was a pause.

"…Did you just say mechanical limbs?" Tina questioned.

"And he _survived_?" Gina asked.

"Yup." She replied. "And he's staying at my house." There was another pause. "Look…Gina, Tina, it's not a big deal! Well…actually it is. But get over it!"

_Rrg…this is gonna take a lot of explaining. _Ishi thought.

Meanwhile…

Rock walked toward Marduk headquarters. When he stepped into headquarters, the receptionist at first looked up and then quickly looked down. And then he looked up again.

"Rock…?" he said, obviously freaked out.

"Hey Ken. Surprised?" Rock replied.

"Well…yeah…aren't you supposed to be dead or something?" Ken replied.

"Yeah, I barely got out alive. The Duke is dead though. Oh yeah, look at these." He put his elbow on the counter with his fist toward the ceiling. He pulled down his sleeve. Ken gaped.

"Dadada…robo-bot…"

"Yeah, it'll take a while to set in. Oh, and my uniform was ruined when Ziggurat fell. I need new ones." He said just like his usual self. But mentioning Duke Red put him in a bad mood.

NOTICE: The humor will kick in a little later. This chapter starts out slow.

Rock grabbed a gun off the shelf and put it in his gun-pouch. (What else am I supposed to call it, a gun protector?)

Meanwhile…

Ishi had just finished explaining her situation to Gina and Tina.

"Woah…" Tina said in awe.

"Yeah, really…" Gina also said.

"Well, we're here. And we're almost late! Let's get inside-" Ishi got cut off.

"Hey, baby. Wanna cut class?" said a boy. He had dark black hair that looked like it was slicked back with about 10 lbs. of gel and/or mousse. He had a flirtatious expression on his face and was wearing the same uniform.

"No, Tom. Leave me alone. And for the one-hundred-millionth time, I'm not interested!" Ishi replied, annoyed.

"Hey, Tom!" the twins said in unison like fan-girls. Tom ignored them. Ishi walked around him and into school.

"Hey baby, don't be like that!" said the flirtatious weirdo.

"Quit calling me "baby", I'm sick of it!" she yelled. She stormed down the hall.

NOTICE: This is where the funny begins.

A few minutes into class, something knocked against the window, which Ishi was right next to. She looked over. She saw Rock wearing sunglasses. He waved.

_What…the…hell…is…he…doing?! This isn't like him at all! _She screamed in her head. She tried to ignore him. But you can imagine how difficult it is sitting near a window with someone whom you've loved for a year waving at you from it. She tried to motion to him to go away, but he didn't understand.

"Miss Suki!" Ishi. looked up.

"Yes Mrs. Samson?" she asked innocently. Ishi looked out the window again. No-one.

"May I remind you this lecture will not be repeated, and if you don't understand something on your homework you cannot blame me for not teaching it to you."

"Yes ma'am." A few minutes later Ishi casually glanced out the window. Rock was sticking his tongue out and holding his mouth apart. She tried not to laugh out loud. She turned away, but quickly peeked over. He was holding his nostrils so they looked like a snout. Ishi chuckled.

"Miss Suki!" came the screech of Mrs. Samson.

"Yes Mrs. Samson. I got all of that Mrs. Samson." She quickly lied.

"Then what did I say?" Ishi blanked out. So she quickly remembered what they'd been studying that unit.

"You said that when Metropolis was founded, our leaders were the grandfathers of our current leaders, Minister Skunk and our late leaders President Boon and Duke Red, forming Metropolis' first dynasty." She quickly stated, praying it was right. Mrs. Samson squinted and walked back up to the board. Ishi sighed with relief.

Meanwhile, Rock was sitting down by the building laughing. For the first time in years, he was having fun. And it felt good. He felt a warmness inside that he recognized somehow, but couldn't recall the last time he'd felt it.

"Take out a piece of binder paper, class." Mrs. Samson said calmly. Ishi quickly took out 2 pieces of binder paper and a piece of tape. She taped 1 of them to the window where Rock was making faces. When Rock saw the paper, he devised a plan. He gave himself moose horns and peeked over the piece of paper. While Ishi was jotting down notes about the history of Metropolis she glanced over to see if the paper was working and saw Rock's face. She laughed a little, accidentally drew a thick line across the paper, through all her notes. She cursed under her breath and kept writing notes. Mrs. Samson was walking around the room, scanning over the class's papers to make sure they were working. When she loomed over Ishi, she noticed the line.

"What is this pencil mark, Miss Suki?" she asked suspiciously.

"That was an accident, ma'am." She stated nervously. When class was over, she ran outside to where Rock was, and saw him. He was back in his Marduk uniform, and looked good as new.

"What the hell was that all about?!" she yelled in a playful kind of way.

"Hey, don't be so prickly! That was the first time I'd had fun in years. And you didn't get in trouble did you?" Rock replied. He stood up.

"No, I didn't get in trouble." She stated. "But Mrs. Samson already hates me, and if she caught you out there she could give you detention even though you don't go here!"

"Why does she hate you?"

"She hates everyone!"

"Oh. Look, I'm sorry, o.k.? I didn't mean any harm." Rock said sincerely. He put his hands on her shoulders. Ishi's angry face melted away to reveal a warm expression.

NOTICE: This is where the funny ends. Sorry.

Tom walked around the corner.

"Hey baby, wanna cut cla-" he started, but he saw Rock holding her shoulders. Ishi and Rock turned their heads around, Rock still holding her shoulders.

_Oh…shit…_Ishi thought. _Why'd that player have to follow me?! _ Tom walked up to them.

"Baby, who is this?" Tom asked.

"Baby?" Rock said, confused. Ishi turned all they way around, facing Tom.

_Actually, I might be able to get Tom off my back… _she thought optimistically.

"O.k., let's begin.

#1: Never call me baby again. I hate it.

#2: I'm not interested in you and I never will be.

#3: This is Rock. He's altogether better than you in every category." Ishi stated cheerfully.

_I hope Rock already knows I like him, otherwise this'll be a surprise. _She pondered. Rock was pretty confused by all this, but began understanding after Ishi's comment. Tom stepped in front of him.

"Rock, huh?" Tom said, trying to be threatening, but failing miserably.

"Are you trying to intimidate me? Because if you are, it isn't working." He replied.

Yeah, diss 'im, Rock! Ishi cheered in her head. 

"Well Ishi is mine, so buzz off!" Tom said, grabbing Ishi. She slapped him.

"What part of, "I hate you, leave me alone." don't you understand?!" she screamed in his face. He didn't listen.

"Look you," Tom said, barely knowing what he was saying. " I don't know what lies you put in her head, but you're gonna pay!"

_Oh no…not Fight Night! _Ishi worried. _Anything but Fight Night! _A random student heard what Tom said and called other students who rushed around the building and formed a crowd. Gina and Tina were among them. The crowd was buzzing with "Is it a Fight Night?" and "Who's the guy with the sunglasses?"

"7:30, Rock! Be at the dump in Zone 1 at 7:30! It's a Fight Night!" Tom yelled. The crowd roared with approval. Rock was confused.

"Hey, it's 5 minutes until 2nd period!" yelled Tina and Gina. The crowd quickly dispersed, taking Tom with it. Ishi and Rock just stood there.

"Rock…?" she said. "Do you realize what you just got yourself into?"

"No. What?"

"Fight Night is what. Fight Night is basically when Tom will challenge you to a fight at 7:30 in the Zone 1 dump. But there's a catch. He has 9 other thugs help him." She explained. "Gossip of a Fight Night will spread faster than syrup on a pancake. Half of the school has probably already heard about it."

"So? I've beaten up plenty of guys. Shot a lot of 'em too. Well, a lot of them were robots, but they count. This won't be a problem." Rock said in a cool way.

"No, you don't understand! The last time there was a Fight Night, Tom's former friend began flirting with me, so you can imagine how ticked off Tom was. So he challenged him to a Fight Night. Now, this guy was as experienced a fighter as Tom was, if not more experienced. You know what happened to the guy?"

"What?"

"He had to be hospitalized for 3 weeks, after which he transferred to Hong Kong High."

"Sheesh. Wait-Hong Kong is in China!"

"Exactly. His parents wanted to be _on the opposite side of the world _after that fight! Rock, don't you get it?! You need to chicken out! If you don't, you'll be in serious danger! Look, I have 2 minutes to get to class, but think about what I've said!" Ishi said as she ran off. "And you can't shoot them!"

_Damn it! I wanted to shoot them…_he pouted slightly. _You're not a kid anymore, Rock. You need to think more about your actions. You might not be able to do this! _He thought, clenching his fist. He realized he hadn't felt his fist clench. He was using his mechanical hand. Everything came back to him. Ziggurat, Tima, Duke Red, everything.

_I…I can make it through anything! If I can survive an 1000-foot-tall tower falling down, I can make it through some stupid fist-fight! _He realized.

**A/N: Update soon! Please review! IMPORTANT NOTICE!!! I have found the real answer to whether Tima is re-built or not! Check the beginning of my profile for that, it's the actual answer! Look at the thing that says, ALL METROPOLIS FANS SHOULD READ THIS!!**


	5. Fight Night

**A/N: Welcome back! Please R&R!!**

**Chapter 5**

**Fight Night**

Ishi wiped the sweat off of her forehead. School was over, and gym had been her last class.

_I hope Rock realized he has to skip Fight Night. If he doesn't it's gonna get ugly… _Ishi worried. _Is he still depressed? If he is, how long is he gonna stay like that? _

"Hey, baby. Gonna root for me at Fight Night tonight?" Tom asked, as unaware of Ishi's hatred toward him.

"Hell, no!! Rock might not even be there. I heard he has some really important Marduk thing he to do, starting at 7:00 and going 'til 8:00." Ishi said, hoping Rock had some important Marduk thing to do.

"Aww, is itty bitty Rock gonna chicken out so he doesn't get any booboos?" Tom mocked. Ishi slapped him. Hard.

"You know, he has a license to kill. He could tell Marduk HQ he had a perfectly good reason for killing you, and could just shoot you. It'll be easy as 1-2-3. And, going back to earlier, I'm not going to root for you if it means my life!!" Ishi said. She walked away as Tom was rubbing his sore cheek.

Back to Rock…

Rock was sitting on the roof of Ishi's house. Earlier he'd thought about Duke Red, which got him depressed again. And he'd told Ishi he was grateful for his robot limbs, which he wasn't. He remembered when he was in Dr. Laughton's laboratory…

"_Oh gods…please give me the strength…to protect my father…from the evil of machines!" _

He was now part machine. He no longer could hate robots…unless he hated himself.

He'd been depressed ever since the end of the operation, but he could conceal it sometimes.

Everyone he knew…or at least everyone important to him…was dead. He'd heard rumors saying that Kenichi had hired someone to rebuild the robot Tima while he found more pieces. So _he _was still there. But even if he talked to him, Kenichi isn't gonna be perfectly fine with his being there. He remembered when he'd chased them and tried to shoot at them all through Zone-1 and part of the surface. And Rock _hated _Tima. Kenichi was trying to bring her back. Basically, Rock's presence around Kenichi wouldn't help anyone.

Most of the Marduks were still alive. But he remembered that he was their leader. He remembered how most of the time, the other Marduks were intimidated by him. They wouldn't help.

But there was one person who would be there for him.

Ishi.

He'd barely known Ishi. But she knew him better than he thought she did.

"_#3: This is Rock. He's altogether better than you in every category."_

He wondered what she'd meant by that. He thought it meant he was a better person, but was that really what it mean? He remembered how Tom would flirt with her. How could he be compared to _that _loser?

So much to wonder. So few answers. Rock put his head in his arms, which were resting on his legs. And he said:

"Oh gods…please give me the strength…to protect the last person who cares about me…Ishi…from any danger that comes her way…" Something round hit his head. He looked up. Three little boys, about 7 years old, were laughing their heads off. They'd hit him with a baseball.

"Haha! Head of the Marduks can't even catch a baseball!" Rock pulled out his gun and pretended to load it.

"Do you want me to shoot you?!" The boys screamed and ran away. When Rock had received his license to kill, he'd been told not you use it on innocent people, obviously. And that gun wasn't loaded. But he could still threaten people with it. That was always fun…

Ishi walked up to the door. She looked up and saw Rock's boots. She backed up to see the rest of him.

"Rock?" He looked down. And smiled.

"Welcome home, Ishi. Henteko said she'd make dinner tonight." Rock greeted. Ishi smiled.

"She remembered tonight. That's good. Are you gonna eat with us?" Ishi questioned.

"I'll think about it."

"And you're NOT going to Fight Night, right?"

"Wrong." There was a pause.

"What?"

"I'm going. You can watch. Remember my mechanical limbs? How much pain do ya think is packed into one of _those_ punches?"

"A lot, but-"

"Ishi, I know you're worried, but I have to use these limbs for _something_. And besides," he began. He hopped down from the roof and stood next to Ishi. "Wouldn't you like to see the crap beaten out of Tom?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Look, someday, Tom is gonna do something to you that isn't gonna be good. I mean more than just total flirting. Something worse."

"Like what?"

"Like something. If that guy likes to beat people up like this, he's gonna do something _very _bad. Do you know anything about his backrounds?"

"Um…I think his dad is in prison, he's supposed to get out soon…his uncle is in a gang, and I think is brother is in juevy hall." Ishi announced. And she realized how dangerous he might actually be. It seemed to be a surprise; she never thought that some flirtatious, popular guy could be so dangerous.

"But even if Tom is dangerous, he's flirts with me all the time. What could he do to me?"

"How did his mom and dad get together?"

"…rape…Tom's mom was raped and convinced into stay with Tom's dad so they could try to live like they were in love, which they're not. It's a good thing they're divorced now," Ishi said, lowering her voice. Rock looked at her, showing she should know what he might do to her. Ishi gasped.

"Ishi, if he's being raised in that kind of environment, why wouldn't he try it himself?" Rock asked. Ishi couldn't find a single reason why he wouldn't. Rock was telling her all this because then, he could be protecting her. If Tom became intimidated by Rock, Rock could easily protect Ishi from anything Tom might do.

_Well…the gods might've given me strength mentally…I don't think I could've thought of that on my own…let's see if they've given me physical strength. _Rock thought.

_Why is Rock being so protective all of a sudden? _Ishi wondered. _I mean, Tom might never bother me again if Rock wins, but… _

"What time is it?" Rock asked.

"Um…" she checked. "4:30. You've got 3 hours before you go kill yourself." Rock groaned.

"Ishi, I'm not going to lose! Have faith in me o.k.? I'll be the snot outta Tom, and all those other thugs. If there's too much trouble, I'll pull out my gun-"

"Don't kill them, Rock!! Please!!" Ishi begged. "It'll all end badly."

"…and _pretend _to load my gun and threaten them. I might fire, but there'll be no bullet. O.k.?" Ishi sighed. The sun was setting, leaving colors of major contrast. "I promise I won't kill _anyone_, not even Tom. O.k.?" Ishi looked away.

"But you'll get hurt…" she said.

"Ishi." She kept looking away. "Look at me." She kept looking away. "Ishi, please," Rock lightly grabbed her hands. That made her look. Her eyes had tears in them.

_He's holding my hands…I'm one lucky girl… _she thought, still worried about him.

"Ishi. Just let me do this. Come with me. You'll see. If anything bad happens, you can say you told me so. I'll do whatever you want." She sniffled. And then she nodded. Even though Ishi was worried as hell, he was being very convincing, somehow. Maybe it was the hands. Maybe it was how even though he was wearing sunglasses she could tell his eyes were caring. Maybe it was just because he was hot. She couldn't tell. But he was going, whether she approved or not. The water in Ishi's eyes spilled over her eyelids. The tears rolled down to her cheeks. Rock wiped one away. He showed a slight grin and gave her a hug.

_I've convinced Ishi. Now if only I had the courage to- _The door slammed open. The hug separated. There was Henteko and Iyou.

"Alright you two, Auntie Kea is eating the couch again and we need all the help we can get. We won't tell anyone you were hugging if you help get Auntie Kea stop." Iyou said.

"Deal?" Henteko confirmed. "Deal. Now get in here!" She pulled them inside while Iyou shut the door.

Meanwhile…

"Master," came the voice under the brown robe. "It's better than we thought. I think they're in love. We should capture Ishi tonight while they're at this, "Fight Night.""

"Good…very good. We should definitely do that. Send some men to wait at the Zone-1 dump."

**A/N: A little zesty romance, and some more stuff with the hooded figure. You will find out who the hooded figure is, but not until later. Review, please! Even if you've already reviewed, it helps A LOT!! I might update later today or tomorrow, so this update will be quicker.**


	6. Fight Night Part 2 and More

**A/N: Oh my dear god. Rock was very OOC with the romance stuff last chapter. That was an accident! I'm so sorry I've taken so freaking long to update! I used to update my fics regularly, but that habit kind of faded. Well enjoy this chapter, there'll be plenty of action to go around.** **P.S.: The only reason the name of chapters and stuff wasn't centered before was cuz of a glitch-type-thing combined with lack of knowledge about an old type of Microsoft Word. Sorry. I don't know if it'll show up right through fanfiction and your browser, but I hope it will. Please read, review, and enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**

**Fight Night Part 2 and More**

Rock and Ishi walked toward the Zone-1 dump where Fight Night was held. Many people stared at Rock, mainly because he was alive, but also because he was with a girl. He'd always been single and bad with women. But there he was, walking with a girl his age.

"Rock," Ishi muttered. "Are you sure you're going to go through with this? You can always turn back. It's always an option. It's definitely what I'd want to do, if I were you. _Definitely._" she said, trying to be obvious about what she wanted. Rock got the message.

"I thought we already talked about this, Ishi. I know a dangerous guy when I see one, and Tom here is undoubtedly one, I've been trained to do that know that kind of thing. I promised I won't use my gun, only my fists."

_Your mechanical fists, _Ishi thought bitterly.

"I don't think you should do this." Ishi argued. "These high school guys are never going to see you again if you're careful, and if they do, you're aloud to shoot them if they start anything too serious, remember? And I can deal with Toms flirting, I've been doing that for a long time now. And if Tom is such a dangerous guy, then maybe you shouldn't get—"

Rock quickly got her down a small alley between buildings, where they were invisible to passerby.

"…involved." she finished. Rock sighed. He knew what he was doing. He'd thought it over thoroughly.

"I thought we already talked about this. Please just let me do this." Rock explained. They were having the same conversation all over again. They both sat on the cold pavement.

"I just think…" she began. "…that if you care about your well-being…you should just forget this stupid mess save yourself the bruising…" Ishi had been speaking slowly because she was thinking at the same time.

"Ishi. Is there something I can do to make you understand my view on this?" he questioned. Ishi thought.

_Kiss me…make out with me…marry me…wait, no! He won't even get the chance if he dies before then! _ she scolded herself.

"No…nothing…" she said. "I just…don't want to lose…or almost lose…you again. I've been through that once, remember? You probably wouldn't have lived if you weren't quickly rescued and tended to. Now there will be no-one to help except me, and I won't be of too much use anyway."

Rock couldn't say anything to that. He knew he was going to do this. But he couldn't dive into it with Ishi feeling this way. He thought he had gotten it through her head during their last talk.

"I'm really doing this Ishi…" he confessed. "For you. Mostly. 95 for you."

Ishi was silently stunned. For her? She thought it was mainly just for the well-being of whoever was involved with him. But…her?

"Let's go." he said, standing up and holding out his hand. "You coming?"

Ishi looked up at him. Was she? How could she refuse when he had secretly been doing this for her well-being? She couldn't just say, 'No, don't do it for me. Don't give me your care and thoughtfulness!' Not when she loved him the way she did.

She took his hand and they were silent for the rest of their trip.

But Ishi didn't know that 1 of the reason he was doing this was to relieve stress. Rock was still extremely depressed about the death of Duke Red.

---

Soon enough they were in the garbage dump. It was 7:30. Ishi thought about asking him about turning back one last time, but she knew Rocks determination would overcome.

"They're hiding. They'll come out soon enough. Remember Rock, I'm rooting for you." Ishi told him. She slowly backed into one of the trash-made seats off to the side.

Suddenly, crowds erupted from beneath the seats of trash, roaring uncontrollably.

_Ishi did say word of a Fight Night spreads quickly… _Rock remembered.

The 10 'thugs' as Ishi called them, soon stepped out from behind own of the rows of trash-seated watchers. They roughly jumped down to the area Rock was standing in. Tom stepped out from among them. He stomped over to Rock, trying to look threatening once again, but looking ridiculous instead.

"So you showed." he said, sounding stupid instead of intimidating. "What happened to that 'Important Marduk Business' you had to attend to?"

Rock looked over at Ishi. She shrugged, which said 'What was I supposed to do?'

Rock went back to Tom.

"There never was any." he said blandly. "She told you that so I wouldn't have to go to the trouble of coming and pounding your ass into the ground."

The crowd said "Oh…" and various "Burnt!"s and "Dissed!"s where among the crowd. Ishi couldn't help but laugh. Where had Rock come up with these disses? Tom was turning a dark shade of pink.

"Oh you think you're _so smart._" he said.

"Not particularly. Unless compared to you, then I'm the smartest guy around." Rock replied.

The same noises the crowd had made earlier came up again, but louder this time, and Ishi laughed harder. She always hated Tom, and Rock was the best person who could've dissed him. She still was never really comfortable with multiple guys liking her, but this was still a sight to see.

Tom continued turning pink.

"_Shut up! _You're all talk! 100 talk!" he said, trying to sound cool.

"Maybe. But if I'm 100 talk, you're 200." he said, looking at his nails with fake boredom.

The crowd was beginning to side with Rock.

"Let's start this!" Tom yelled, continuing his pink progression. He threw his jacket to the ground. The other burly guys came to his side.

"3!" he yelled. The crowed shouted. "2!" he said, the crowd cheered at the same time. Rock sighed and cracked his knuckles.

"Bring it on pussy." Rock said blandly. Tom grew bright red.

"1!!!" he yelled. Rock quickly dodged Tom's simple centered punch and slammed an overcut at his right cheek. His head shot backward with momentum. The crowd yelled out in Rock's favor, with Ishi yelling loudest. Tom rubbed his cheek angrily and tried throwing another punch, with Rock lazily caught with his left hand. He looked at the punch he'd just caught.

"Well whaddo ya know." he said blandly. "That's my weak hand." Tom growled. Another thug tried to take out Rock from behind. But Rock knew it all along, and quickly turned around and threw punch in his stomach, making the thug begin to cough. He sat down off to the side, coughing so much that he was out. The crowd definitely approved.

A boy who sat next to Ishi asked her, "Hey, what's that guys name? The guy who kicking ass right now?" Ishi had been cheering loudly, so her voice was a little worn out.

But she still said. "Rock! His name is Rock!"

"Alright then." he replied. He began chanting. "Rock! Rock! Rock!" Ishi quickly joined in, along with others.

This was much to Tom's disapproval. He growled again, got to of his buddies to hold Rocks arms, so he could punch him. The thugs attempted to do just that, but Rock willingly let them grab his arms. As they did, he slammed their foreheads into each other. The crowd loved it, and chanted Rock's name. Rock looked bored. But those two thugs weren't done yet. They both tried to get Rock in the stomach and face, but the one aiming for the stomach faced Rock's kick and the one aiming for the head was dodged, and Rock quickly tripped him, making him fall onto the other thug. The crowd was loving every minute of it. Rock's name was once again chanted.

Tom was enraged. How could this guy who showed up out of nowhere suddenly be winning a Fight Night? He didn't think it would come to this, but he called his other 6 thugs and huddled. After their talk, they all charged at Rock at once. Rock wasn't intimidated. He simply punched a few of the thugs out of the way and kneed a few of the others. Tom tried to batter-ram him, but Rock grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him to the pavement.

The entire crowd had been converted to Rock-fans by now. They were cheering very loudly. But most of those thugs weren't beaten that easily. 3 of them got right back up and actually slammed Rock in the back, into the ground. The crowd gasped. But Rock got up before they could continue and slammed one into the ground, and the other 2 into each other, then into the ground. The crowd roared again. Tom was so pissed off right now he could turn a darker shade of red, and that he did.

_4 thugs to go, _ Rock thought. _This was easier than I thought. _

2 more burly guys managed to elbow Rock in the stomach and a punch in the face. But Rock swung them around and into the crowd, on top of a few people. But the rest of the crowd approved.

_2 left, _he thought.

1 guy came and was no threat. Rock through him aside like a soggy towel. And the crowd began chanting again.

Last was Tom. Who knew a face could get literally as red as a tomato? Tom came running at Rock at full speed. But he didn't move. As they were about to collide, Rock stealthily side-stepped and tripped Tom, who of course, fell flat on his face.

The crowd cheered as loud as all the other times. Rock rubbed a bruise on his cheek.

The audience poured from their seats to congratulate him and tell him that he was the first to win Fight Night, ever. Some girls swooned over him.

He looked for Ishi. But he found that she was not in her seat. She was nowhere to be found.

A/N: Cliffhanger! I hope I can update sooner this time. Sorry for taking so long to update! Oh yeah, percent signs don't show up on fanfiction, so where it says 'But if I'm 100', there's supposed to percent signs. But it's fanfiction's fault they don't show up. Sorry. I also do not think that Ishi is a Mary Sue, if some were wondering, because she's fairly happy with her life and not really a fighter unless it's called for, which you may see some of. And she doesn't really know real pain because she feels her 'family' really is a family to her. So yeah. Thanks for reading! Please please please review!


	7. Where's Ishi? And More

**A/N: Welcome back! Also, this may or may not be convenient for some: I now have status reports in my profile, so if you ever want to see how this fic is coming along(or my soon-to-come fic, The Pendant, check it out when it's out), check ****New Stories & New Updates****, cuz all the info you'll need will be there. Anyway, Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

**Where's Ishi? And More**

Rock managed to weave his way through the crowd of highschool kids in under 30 minutes, woopee. But he was worried sick about Ishi.

_Where the hell could she be??! I know she wouldn't have gone off on her own, someone must've done something! TOM—no, he's sitting with his thugs! _Rock thought, turning around to make sure Tom and his thugs were sitting, and they were. He kept running.

MEANWHILE…

Ishi tried to untie the ropes fastened on her wrists and ankles. She couldn't even yell for help because of the rope tied around her head, going through her mouth. She was even blindfolded, so she couldn't even see who was taking her.

_Damnit! Who the hell would kidnap me anyway? Gawd, this pisses me off! _She thought. _Rock…please find me…I never thought I'd be a damsel in distress, but it's a ridiculous situation, and I really need your help. You may not know that I love you, but I still need you! Please…_

"Stayin' nice n' quiet, Ishi? Good…" came the voice of whoever kidnapped her. Ishi's eyes buldged.

_How'd he know my name??! _She thought hysterically, if you can really think hysterically. She grunted.

"So much fer quiet." the person said. "You better shuddup. We're just waitin' fer Dan, my husband."

MEANWHILE…

Rock was running out of breath. And he knew running around blindly was a very inefficient way to look for someone who just disappeared. But that definitely didn't stop him, no way.

_Ishi…where the hell are you??! Gawd, this really is frustrating! Who would take Ishi and why??! _

For whom the bell tolls. As Rock rounded the corner to a seemingly abandoned street, he saw the woman who'd taken Ishi. She seemed to be tapping her foot impatiently. Rock ran to her.

"Have you seen a girl with black hair, green eyes, and—" Rock heard a grunt coming from a truck nearby. He saw her face through the foggy window in the back of the truck.

"Ishi!" He ran toward the truck.

"Not so fast!" the woman yelled. She threw a trash can at Rock. It slammed into his back, and he put his robotic arm out to keep him from falling. Surprisingly, it had enough strength to hold him up. He hoisted himself up and charged toward the woman. But she was nimble, and dodged his punch and punched him in the stomach. But Rock kicked her ankles, hard, and she fell to the ground.

Rock had a window, and he ran toward the truck and pulled at the car door. But it was locked tight. Rock used his right arm, and the lock almost seemed to peel off. He threw the doors open, grabbed Ishi and ran. Ishi grunted.

_He saved me! He found me and saved me! I really do love you, Rock. _Ishi thought happily.

After Rock had run what seemed far enough, he set Ishi down and untied her.

"What happened? Did they hurt you? Why'd they take you?" Rock questioned, very worried.

"I'm not even sure," she replied, once she could speak. "There were only 4 thugs left for you to fight, and then someone yanked me back and blindfolded me. And…she knew my name…"

"Well…" Rock said. "I'm just glad you're o.k. She might've heard someone say your name before she took you."

"You won, didn't you?" Ishi affirmed.

"Of course! They weren't a problem. I'm fine." he said, rubbing his cheek.

"You have a bruise though!" she said, looking at it, rubbing it lightly. "Well, it isn't even a fraction of what I thought might happen."

Ishi realized it was incredibly awkward that she was rubbing his face, so she quickly stopped and blushed.

There was a moment of silence.

"Rock?"

"Yeah, Ishi?"

"Umm…" she began. "You know, earlier you said you were doing Fight Night, and I was trying to stop you…and you said you were doing it because of…because of me."

There was a long pause before Rock could respond. He stood, and walked away, slightly, only a few feet.

"Someone like Tom shouldn't even get to look at you. I couldn't let him keep acting like he was around you. Or even anyone else. Someone had to set him straight." he finally replied. "And…"

"And what?" Ishi asked.

"And I want to protect you. You're the only person left."

There was another pause, longer than the first one.

Ishi was thoughtful. _What? He wants to protect me? Why? He can't possibly love me. He doesn't. I know he doesn't. That's isn't something Rock would do. _

Rock was also thoughtful. _Well, it's true. You did want to protect her from that nasty flirt, Tom. But…something is different now. Now I really do want to protect her. Not just Tom, but…anything that could hurt her. _

"Uh, we should go home. It's already 8:30. Auntie Kea still thinks 9:00 is a good bedtime." Ishi said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah." Rock responded. They began to walk home.

The milky moon reflected it's light over the big city. White spots seemed to be on the buildings from the light.

As the two neared the house, Rock quickly glanced at Ishi. She seemed different. She seemed even prettier than before. All he wanted to do was to hold her.

Rock was in love.

THE NEXT MORNING…

This time, Rock was later into breakfast. He saw everyone with their usual amount of bowls; Arai: 10. Iyou & Henteko: 5 each. Auntie Kea: 25. Ishi: 2

"Morning, Rock," Ishi said, acknowledging his presence.

"Morning." Rock said, sitting down.

LATER, WITH ISHI…

Ishi walked into the school building, and was quickly besieged with questions and comments.

"How did you get the head of the Marduks to go to a Fight Night?"

"He's soooo-ooo hot!! D'ya know his number?"

"How come he ran away when we were congratulating him?"

"Is there some relationship between you two right now?"

Ishi felt flustered like a Hollywood star with paparazzi around her. She couldn't even move from where she was. When she was about to batterram them, a voice called out,

"QUIET!!!!"

Ishi thought it was Tom. _Oh no…_

"Get to class, everyone!" It was Mrs. Samson. Sighs of relief were heard everywhere. Everyone made their way to class.

WITH ROCK…

He walked into Marduk headquarters.

"Um…" mumbled Ken the receptionist. "Rock?"

"Hm?" Rock responded. "What's going on, Ken?"

"Uh…well…Rock, it's just…you're not exactly…um…" Ken stuttered.

"Not exactly what?" Rock questioned. He was getting a little worried.

"Well…um…I…After Ziggurat…you know, falling…" Ken began.

Rock was getting crabby. _Why'd he have to bring that up? He's knows I miss the Duke more than anyone here. No, more than anyone in Metropolis!_

"Spit it out, Ken!" he insisted.

"A message arrived, in the mail…it said it was late, but…it was from the Duke, a-and, it said…some things. About you, ya know…being a Marduk."

"What are you trying to say?" Rock asked, worried. He remembered when Duke Red ripped off his Marduk ribbons. Ken couldn't have found out about that. Could he?

"It said you…weren't…exactly…you know…a Mard-duk…anymore."

Ken hit the nail on the head. "What?"

"You aren't our leader, or even a Marduk anymore." came a different voice. Another Marduk stepped in from a different room.

Rock thought. _Alright…they say I can't be here anymore…I have to obey an order like that, even if it's ridiculous. Father…_

Rock came up with a plan. "Fine. I'm not your leader. But if I'm not, who is?"

There was a long pause. Various Marduks came in and discussed the matter.

"Is no-one up for it?" Rock asked. They all shook their heads. "Then I'd be happy to pick up where I left off."

Rock walked into his 'new' office. All the Marduks shrugged and went back to what they were doing.

Ishi was in her bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. Moonlight shone lightly through her window, showing a white mark on the floor.

"_And I want to protect you. You're the only person left."_

What did he mean by 'the only person left'? The only person left to do what?

Ishi kept thinking. She remembered how he'd idolize Duke Red. He always called him 'father', not 'foster-father' or anything like that.

Rock never seemed to have any friends. Occasionally he'd be seen with a few other Marduks, but after defeating a robot, the other Marduks congratulated _each other_, but not Rock.

_So I guess that means Duke Red was his only companion, of any kind. And Duke Red treated him like crap. Maybe that's why Rock cared about him so much… _Ishi thought. _Not because he treated him like crap, because he was the only one who remotely cared, as far as he knew. _

_But Duke Red is gone now, _Ishi kept thinking. _I was never really considered his friend before that. I was more of a distant person he barely knew. Now I'm definitely a friend. Nevermind that, thought. So without Duke Red, Rock really was all alone, until I saved him. So I guess, I really am the only person he has left. _

WITH ROCK…

Rock was also awake, with Arai gently snoring nearby.

Rock wasn't feeling normal. He felt queasy and happy and different all at the same time. And Ishi was always in his thoughts, no matter what he was thinking about.

QUICK NOTE: Of course, you know Rock is in love. But he'd never felt this before, so he doesn't know what's going on. Funny how he can be so dense. :P

Unfortunately, he also couldn't stop thinking about Duke Red.

Recently, he'd been rather mean to Rock, but no-one knew that before he wanted the robotic Tima to be built, he was a good father to him.

"_Rock," the maid said. "Dinner is ready."_

_The 9-year-old Rock ran down the hallways and reached the large dining hall. He quickly sat down and waited patiently for his serving. His father sat at the head of the table, and Rock next to him. _

"_Hello, Rock," Duke Red said cheerily. "How have you been?"_

"_Fine, father," Rock replied happily. "A little bored, though. But fine."_

_The Duke put his hand on Rock's shoulder and smiled. _

_After the meal, dessert was served. It was an expensive sorbet. There was enough for everyone to have a few scoops. But there was enough left for 2 scoops. _

"_Father, would you like the rest?" Rock asked politely. _

"_No Rock, you can have the rest." _

_Rock smiled. "Thanks you…dad."_

Rock smiled at this happy memory. Now, of course, that was a distant memory that actually brought pain to his heart. He could never sit at the table again. He could never sit with his father again.

Rock, slowly but sadly, fell asleep.

**A/N: I'm glad I updated. This was a really long update. Please review! And come back next time!**


	8. A Mysterious Ninja And Tom UhOh

**A/N: I think Kawaii Hana and Lidella are the only ones reading this fic…but I love it so dang much! Let's start: Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8**

**A Mysterious Ninja. And Tom. Uh-oh.**

Ishi sat up in bed. She yawned and looked at the morning light glistening through her window.

Henteko still slept nearby. Ishi and Henteko shared a room, seeing they were both teenage girls and they could share clothes because Henteko was only a year older, but about as tall as Ishi.

She felt the day would be a peaceful one.

"ISHI!! ISHI WAKE UP!!!"

Two people slammed through the door of her and Henteko's room. Henteko shot up in her bed.

The 2 people who slammed into her room were Gina and Tina, Ishi's twin friends.

"Ishi! Ishi!" said Gina and Tina at the same time.

"What, what?!?" Ishi screamed. "Why are you at my house at 7:20 a.m.??!"

Tina began crying. "There was dog crap on your front doorstep, and I got it all over my new shoes!"

There was a pause. Henteko and Ishi frowned.

"I'm going to get up today, and I'm going to hate everything." said Henteko.

"Likewise." Ishi replied.

"That's not really why we're here!" Gina insisted. "It's about Tom!"

"Oh god." Henteko said. "First he flirts with me, then he moves onto Ishi. Now who's he flirting with?"

"Actually, Henteko," Ishi said. "Don't you remember? Rock kicked his ass last night."

"Oh yeah," Henteko remembered. "Tom's going to kill someone now. Congratulations."

"Last night," Gina began. "After Rock ran away, after winning of course, Tom said he wasn't going to heard from for a while. So of course, he's probably not going to be at school for a few weeks. But he's going to be plotting something. Something big. He even said so. But he didn't say what."

"Uh-oh." Ishi said.

"Uh-oh is right." Henteko replied. "Alright, time for a story, you guys."

"Have I heard this one?" Ishi asked.

"Some of it." Henteko said. "Here goes. Alright, so a long time ago…and I mean _a very long time ago_, I was…Tom's…girlfriend—"

"WHAT?!?!?!" Gina and Tina yelled. "Tomboyish Henteko Suki was Tom's girlfriend??!" (Suki is the family last name)

"I know it sounds weird, but it's true." Ishi said. "Henteko wanted to see what it was like. The relationship lasted for 2 days."

"Anyway," Henteko continued. "He told me, that if I he ever lost a Fight Night, he'd go on some sort of spree, probably a violent one. So that's probably what's going to happen."

"No-one saw that coming," Tina stated sarcastically.

Arai suddenly entered the room.

"We saw people running through the house. We came to see that you were alright." Arai said.

Rock burst into the room.

"Are you o.k.??!" Rock yelled worriedly. He ran up to Ishi. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine. It's Gina 'n Tina, my friends." Ishi said, rather confused at his outburst. Rock seemed to calm down.

Gina and Tina giggled.

"Morning Rock," Henteko yawned. "What's up with you today?"

"Well, when you see people running through the house screaming your name and saying things about Tom, I'm bound to be a little worried," he said, straightening himself up, turning back to his normal self. "I'm heading out. See ya---"

"ROCK!!!!" Gina and Tina screamed, rushing up to him.

"Youaresocoolhow'dyoudothattoTomohmygodILOVEYOU!!!!!!!!!!" Gina yelled in his face. Tina shoved her out of the way.

"Ohmygoshyou'resohotandstrongandyoubeatupTomILOVEYOU!!!!!!" Tina screamed at him.

Henteko raised her eyebrow as Ishi got steamed.

_They know I like him…why are they doing this? _she thought.

"Don't smother him," Arai said calmly.

"Yeah, I've really gotta go," he lied, knowing he could check into Marduk headquarters whenever he wanted.

"WHERE IS THE MONKEY CHIEF??!! HE OWES ME 200 GIBBONS!!!" they all heard being yelled from the other room.

"Auntie Kea is awake, that's for sure," Henteko grumbled. "I better wake up Iyou, the lazy little retard…"

As Henteko went to wake up her twin brother, Rock struggled to free himself from Gina and Tina.

"But you can stay for a few days, can't you? Pretty please?" Tina begged.

"Yeah, you don't really have anything to do, do you?" Gina insisted.

Ishi was getting more and more steamed by the second.

"That's enough!!!!" she yelled. Everyone stopped. Ishi calmed down. "Rock has to leave now. Gina, Tina, we've gotta get ready for school."

Tina and Gina backed away from Rock as he ran out of the room, gasping for air. Arai followed him.

"Let's just get ready…" Ishi said, getting out of bed.

LATER, AT SCHOOL…

Ishi was cautious as she walked through the halls. What was Tom up to? Was he really going to go on a violent rampage? Or would he do something completely different? Ishi had no way of knowing. Talking to Tom's friends was too dangerous, and she didn't even know if they were there. They could be plotting something with Tom. But what were they plotting?

_Dammnit, it's all so confusing, _Ishi thought angrily. _That dumb-ass, Tom…Rock will protect me from anything Tom does, though. Right?_

Ishi gingerly opened the door to her class room.

"You're late, Ms. Suki. Tardy, tardy." said the teacher.

"Sorry, Mr. Marsh. Won't happen again." she said hastily. She sat in her seat.

AT MARDUK HQ…

Rock walked into the Marduk headquarters.

"Rock, signing in," he said to Ken, the receptionist.

"Hi Rock," he replied, writing down some things.

After signing in, Rock went into the Recreation Room. Various Marduks were laying around. Rock sat down alone in an old leather chair.

"But I honestly can't be doing these ultra dangerous missions," said an older Marduk with a thick mustache.

"Why not?" said a younger Marduk with blonde hair. "Tougher the mission, heavier the wallet. Those really touch ones almost double your paycheck."

"But I can't," mustache replied. "I have a wife and children at home. They don't like it when I'm gone for days on end, or when I come home with scars. They just really care about me."

It seemed like they'd been ignoring Rock until then. But then mustache noticed him.

"Speaking of which," he said. "When are you gonna settle down and have kids, Rock? I know you're young now, but you'll be in your 20s before ya know it. When are you gonna marry, huh?"

Rock paused before answering. Of course, Ishi had immediately come to mind. "Whenever I think proper."

"Come on, Rock," the blonde said. "There's probably been lots of girls who smother you. It always seemed like you'd be the popular one with the ladies. But you never were."

"You've probably got some gal in mind, huh? Some girl you've seen around town, right Rock?" mustache asked.

Rock remained emotionless, though all his thoughts were on Ishi. "Whether I do or do not, it is no business of yours."

"Ooh, Rock is thinking about someone, I can tell," the blonde on said.

"C'mon, Rock. We know you must like someone. I remember a long time ago, hearing something about you liking green eyes." said mustache.

Rock realized Ishi had green eyes. He hadn't even thought about that when he started liking her. "Never you mind."

"I bet she has green eyes." the blonde said. "Hey, I know! What about that girl they say Rock was walking with. People spotted him walking with some girl. Who is she?"

"Yeah, who's she?"

Rock was getting pissed. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Don't play stupid, Rock. I was there," said another Marduk who'd joined the conversation. He wore a green hat. "She _was _pretty. A little younger than you."

Rock found a blush creeping across his face. "She's just the girl who rescued me."

"Oh, so when you awoke, you saw her beautiful face above your own," green hat jeered.

"It's not like that," Rock insisted.

"Sure it isn't." mustache said sarcastically.

"I sure hope she ain't one of those flirty girls, huh Rock?" blonde replied.

"Yeah, that'd be easy for him. She probably just went up and flirted with him right after his surgery. That's why he's saying she rescued him. "

"No! That's not—" Rock began.

"Rock, who is your little flirt?"

"Yeah, who—"

"Ishi is not like that!!" Rock yelled.

"Huh? 'Ishi'? So you're a sucker for Asian chicks, huh?"

Rock nearly shook with anger. "I can cut your paycheck in half if that makes you stop. I could even fire you if that's what you want."

The teasing ceased. Rock exited the room.

"I wonder if they'll have a kid." the blonde pondered.

"I want to be the godfather." mustache said.

MEANWHILE…

Ishi looked lazily out the window. Now she was in Mrs. Samson's class. She was famous, or rather, infamous for her long lectures, which usually had very little to do with the class. This one happened to be about her childhood, so Ishi simply tuned her out.

Little did she know that danger was lurking nearby. And not just one danger, but two.

"Miss Suki!" Mrs. Samson shrieked. Ishi sat up, alarmed. "How dare you! Dawdling in my class in the middle of a lecture! You really should be ashamed. I'm using my time and energy just so you can--"

The intercom crackled. Then a voice was heard. "Miss Ishi Suki, please come to the office. Ishi, Suki." The intercom crackled again, signaling that it had turned off.

Ishi was surprised and suspicious as she walked toward the school office.

_Who could it be? Rock? No, I don't think he's do that. He'd probably do what he did last time; he'd just wait right outside the window. Auntie Kea? No, Henteko, Iyou and me made it perfectly clear that we didn't want her to rampage through the school anymore. Then who? _she wondered.

As she turned the corner, her pupils dilated.

MEANWHILE…

Rock walked around a corner. Immediately he noticed that there was a crowd gathered around something. As Rock walked over to see what all the commotion was, he heard a lady scream.

"He stole my robot!"

Rock turned and saw a figure in black running very fast. The figure stopped, and Rock saw that he was a foot ninja.

_Well that's strange. _he thought.

He noticed that the ninja was holding a small waiter robot under his arm. As the ninja reached out to grab another robot, he noticed something shiny in his palm. As the ninja touched another robot, it began to malfunction.

_That thing in his hand must be making them malfunction. _he concluded, looking around. _I'm pretty sure no other Marduks are assigned to be in this area right now. I have to go after him myself. _

Rock tried to go after him from behind. As he did, he began loading his gun. When Rock saw a good opening, he rammed himself into the ninja. The ninja stumbled forward and fell on top of some people. Everyone gasped.

As Rock was about to handcuff the ninja, he jumped up kicked Rock in the stomach. As Rock fell back in pain, the ninja stood and was gone before Rock could do anything else. Rock quickly pulled himself up, and took out his walkie-talkie.

"I need reinforcement, surface, intersection of 24th and Gilman." He said into it.

Pretty soon, more Marduks arrived and 2 of them held the struggling ninja in their arms.

"This was in his hand," said one, handing rock a metal circular disc.

"He used this make robots malfunction," Rock informed. "I'll take a better look at it and give it to the mechanics tomorrow. I want an interview of this guy, recorded fool-proof. Get moving!"

MEANWHILE…

Ishi trembled at the sight of Tom standing calmly by the office desk.

"Are you Ishi Suki?" The secretary asked.

"Y-yes," she replied.

"Good. Tom, here she is."

Ishi was still trembling. But she remembered what Rock had said.

"_Someone like Tom shouldn't even get to look at you. I couldn't let him keep acting like he was around you. Or even anyone else."_

Rock would protect her, no matter what. Ishi stopped trembling and straightened up as Tom came closer.

"Hello, Ishi." he said, perfectly emotionless. Ishi didn't respond. "I have a few questions I would like to ask you." Ishi was silent. " First of all, why do you hate me?"

Ishi made a 'pfft' noise. "A better question would be why don't I hate you more? You're conceited, perverted, violent, stupid, and persistent in all the wrong ways. You continued to follow me around even though I continuously told you I hate you, and no matter what I did, you'd call me 'baby' or 'sweetheart' and on and on and on!!!"

Tom didn't respond to Ishi's outburst. "How did Rock beat me?"

"Simple. He's a better fighter than you, a better person than you, and all in all, he's just better than you. You lost because you're conceited and stupid, and if you had better intellect, maybe you would have had a chance against him. You never use your head. Rock used fighting _skill_. You used the energy you get from fighting to make a fool of yourself. Rock isn't like you. He has a better intellect than you."

Tom still refused to respond. "Finally, why did you cheer for Rock and not me?"

"Number 1, I HATE YOU!!!!!" she yelled into his face. "Number 2, you don't deserve it, Number 3, make sure you write this on down. I. Love. Him. Not you. I love _Rock. _You don't even compare."

Tom paused. "But I _am _great."

Ishi paused. Then she began to laugh. She laughed so hard her stomach began to hurt. "Where you even listening to anything I just said? You really _are _stupid. I have to get back to class. I'd rather listen to Mrs. Samson for hours than look at you for one more minute."

Ishi walked away.

_Damn! That felt good, _she thought happily.

One danger down. One to go.

Ishi turned the corner, only to find herself face-to-face with a man in a ninja outfit. He spoke in Japanese.

"You are coming with me, Ishi Suki." he said, using crisp, clear Japanese. He tried to grab her, but she backed away.

"Who are you? How do you know who I am?" she replied, also using his language.

He did not answer her, but got ready to fight her.

**A/N: Woohoo! Long chapter! Please review! And return, next time!**


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